“Big sister, where is sister Mari?”

  “Ellie?... Marisa see, she had some business to attend to outside!”

  It has only been one night since she left, and I already feel like trash, I couldn’t sleep whatsoever and neither could Rushka. We ended up helping Adele settle into the pace in the middle of the night. She also didn’t sleep, surprisingly the only two people that slept tonight were Ellie and Celestial, weird since she never sleeps, but after the wounds she had yesterday, I’m not surprised she needs to rest.

  “Liar!”

  “E-excuse me!?”

  “Ah, umm... sorry...”

  It’s... the first time I heard Ellie raise her voice like that against me, it was a bit of a surprise to be honest, but that is not the part that intrigues me.

  “Ellie, baby, why do you say that I’m lying?”

  “I... I don’t know, it just feels like it?”

  Hmm... is this another secondary effect from changing species? She reminded me of Marisa just now, can she tell when people lie as well? It would be rather difficult to tell.

  “I see... Don’t use that tone of voice with anyone Ellie, it’s rude”

  “Sorry...”

  I... really have neglected Ellie as of te, but I also have a lot of work to do as well, although it’s very early and in all honesty, I’ve been trying to focus but it doesn’t matter what I try, I can’t seem to move forward with any of the paperwork...

  “Say Ellie, do you want to draw with me for a bit?”

  “Eh!? Can we?”

  “Of course, bring over a chair and sit with me”

  “Ok!”

  Maybe I should use this opportunity to teach Ellie how to read and write. She's going to need to learn these things for her future. Now that I think about it, I didn’t even go to register her at school the day of the agreed meeting. Maybe it should wait, or maybe it shouldn’t, Ellie has grown so much, I can’t help but smile, I still remember when I could carry her in my arms...

  I’ll think about it, for now I want to teach her things myself, like we have been doing all this time.

  Well I say learn, we’re doodling on spare pieces of paper, still, I try to teach her letters every now and then, but she’s too focused on her drawings, she’s surprisingly good at it, maybe she could be an artist in the future...

  I wonder what awaits us all in the future...

  “Heather, Ellie, what are you doing?”

  “Sister Rusha!”

  “‘Rushka’ Ellie, it's pronounced ‘Rushka’”

  “It’s fine, I find it adorable that she still gets my name wrong”

  Rushka has bags under her eyes, not only that, but she looked mencholic for a moment, I can only guess the reason why.

  We spent the morning idling about, there’s a certain gloom feeling in the atmosphere, I try to not show it in my face to not scare Ellie, but it’s just inevitable, not only that, but she’s getting tired of just doodling, I can see in her face that she doesn’t want to bother us, but she’s also bored...

  “Big sister, can I go to py with Anna and the other kids?...”

  She asked me meekly, I know she always asked Marisa for permission, is she afraid I won’t let her go? I admit I worry about her, but she’s grown so much, and she’s gone on her own a couple of times already, so it should be fine.

  “Hmm? Alright baby, just be careful ok?”

  “O-ok!”

  And she bolted out of the room.

  “Anna?”

  “The orphanage kids”

  “Ah! She managed to fit right in despite being half demon now huh?”

  “Well, she is technically an orphan as well, maybe that’s why she befriended them so quickly”

  “Maybe, but it’s not the same, she always had you by her side”

  “Yeah we always had each other... and your parents Rushka?”

  “Well, I never met my mother, she died when I was a baby, I still write letters to dad every now and then, both dad and my brother seem to be doing fine, quite good actually, now that war is over”

  “I see... something more to thank Marisa for I guess...”

  “...”

  We both looked down in silence, as we started gathering papers to actually begin our work.

  “What’s in your mind Heather?”

  Hmm? Weird of Rushka to break the silence, she’s usually quiet when working.

  “Nothing, why?”

  “Oh C’mon! You can’t fool me, even Ellie noticed you've been in a sulking mood...”

  “Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? I could ask the same thing”

  ““...””

  We both know the reason, it’s a feeling we both carry in our chest.

  “We share a lover and even had intimate moments together, we shouldn’t hide stuff from each other...”

  “You’re right, I’m thinking about Marisa, I can’t help but worry...”

  “Then we’re on the same boat, I wish there was something more I could do to help her, than just secretary work...”

  “You’re also helping me Rushka, and you’re pretty smart, I think you will think of something but me... I can’t help but think about Marisa’s words, I’m just getting in the way tely...”

  It infuriates me, extremely so, I know that after losing my limbs I would be less capable but, I think that even if I were in perfect condition, I would still not be able to do anything! And Rushka just gave me a ugh for some reason!

  “*chuckle* it sounds to me it hurt your knight’s pride”

  “Of course! But what am I to do!? I’m only human and we’re up against literal monsters!”

  “You’re right, but it need not be such a hopeless endeavor, the ring we carry are proof of that”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The heroes that fought Maldi all those years ago, weren’t all physically strong as Marisa or Celestial, there was a human in their ranks, and a dwarf as well, hell even a halfling if records are to be believed! And they’re known for not being particurly good in fights”

  “I... really can’t see that, but I will take your word for it!”

  I look at the ring Marisa gave to me, I know she didn’t give it to me with that purpose in mind, but...

  I want to be able to stand next to Marisa, I want to be part of her strength as well!

  “I have decided! I want to become stronger!”

  “That’s the spirit! Marisa also became stronger after training with Celestial, did you notice?”

  “I thought it was my imagination, I had in mind to return to my training routine, but maybe asking for help could not be a bad thing!”

  “It might be worth the effort! I will ask her as well. Not only that, the cloaked girl that’s Marisa’s friend is also an adventurer, Adele was her name? Maybe she can help as well!”

  “Are you interested in her Rushka?”

  “Marisa mentioned that she was researching something, maybe working together as fellow schors would be more efficient than with everyone doing their own thing!”

  Rushka is right, it might be true that we can only do so much on our own, but we do not need to tackle everything by ourselves!

  “Let’s gather everyone, maybe call Lassie as well, she can help with paperwork and Marisa gave her dangerous work as well, if she joins in our training, she might get better results!”

  “Sounds like a pn! And the angel girl is also a proficient healer, maybe she can help us in being magic proficient or teach us healing magic as well!”

  “If she can heal wounds, we could train until we bleed and then have her help us out to not stop!”

  “Umm, Heather, that sounds a bit too harsh!”

  Muscles are made from regenerating tissue after all! Maybe we can reach greater heights, inviting the pace knights might prove to be worthwhile as well!

  “Did you say something Rushka?”

  “Y-you know, sometimes I feel like a part of Marisa is rubbing off on you Heather...”

  “Oh! I see that as a good thing, probably”

  We continued discussing what we could do to better ourselves, all the while putting away Ellie’s doodles and accommodating the different letters and requests for the town lord, Marisa always ignores audiences, but it’s one thing when the town lord itself tells you to get lost in a letter signed by her, and a very different one that one of her workers tells nobility that.

  *knock**knock*

  “Hmm? Come in!”

  “G-good morning...”

  Entering the door meekly, was the faun girl that makes all of those delicious cakes.

  “Elizabeth right? What happened?”

  “W-well... Marisa asked for my help and I... well...”

  “Oh of course! Every capable person is always welcomed, let me give you a rundown of our situation”

  “O-ok...”

  “I’ll continue writing those apology letters, we can’t let more merchants leave the town!”

  “Thanks Rushka”

  Ok, let me start getting all the tax income reports and other simir things, as well as the budgets and expenditures of the previous war and the orphanage problems.

  ...

  ...

  “W-wow...”

  “We’re in a terrible shape right?”

  “And I thought I was the one in debt! This is not good...”

  “Now you see why we needed an actual accountant, sorry that Marisa dragged you into this...”

  “I-it’s fine, there’s just something that doesn’t add up”

  “What is it?”

  “If the military budget spends almost a third of their income on supplies for the town guards barracks, there must be either over 10,000 people working, or they eat like kings! That is expensive!”

  “... now that you mention it, the expenditure report is rather interesting”

  I never bothered to look at it in detail, I think no one did, since we split the budget in different areas, and we don’t get much time to analyze how they use the money individually, but didn’t the whole army was fired or repurposed? The budget did not seem high in all honesty, but for the people that are basically just guards and the like, it might be too big!

  “Have you ever noticed this Rushka?”

  “I didn’t, it seems appropriate considering it’s simir in proportion to my home back in Dagdar”

  “Umm... I’m not so sure, but I think there’s people taking the funds...”

  Elizabeth keeps looking at all the different reports, she can look at numbers fast!

  “Are you sure? Why do you say that?”

  “Well it’s hard to notice, but there’s a lot of small lost money in the amounts, honestly it’s hard to notice when looking at them individually, but overall, they make a big chunk of money...”

  “That's embezzlement! And a crime, let’s start to investigate that!”

  “Oh this one is the most obvious! Like someone would spend this much on alcohol for the pace!”

  “Umm... about that...”

  “Do you know something about it Rushka?”

  ...

  ...

  As it turns out, there was a LOT we could save, either from budgets or from personal expenditures, I didn’t know Rushka was an alcoholic! I never realized she drank so much in her b! She said that Marisa allowed her to buy it, and while I believe it, it’s not doing good on either our pockets or her liver, for now she’s getting less alcohol, and the cheapest we can buy.

  Rushka continued working while morally discouraged, not long after that Lassie came as well offering to help, and to everyone’s surprise, with the four of us working constantly, we managed to actually finish for the day at least!

  “Are we... done?”

  “W-we are...”

  “““Hah...”””

  We three exhaled in relief, Lassie was also relieved but she didn’t make a sound, we’re all stretching from our chairs and things of the like, Elizabeth was an enormous help, she has a knack for these things! I seriously wonder where Marisa finds such capable people sometimes! She’s not just looking for people on the streets is she?

  Honestly she’s so outrageous, that might really be the case.

  *grooowl*

  Elizabeth’s stomach growled after we all fell silent for a moment.

  “S-sorry...”

  “Don’t be, we worked a lot, we should head to get something to eat!”

  “Oh let’s! I need a drink after this!”

  “No more alcohol Rushka!”

  “Meh!! So unjust but fine! I’m still hungry anyways! Want to tag along Lassie, Elizabeth”

  Lassie nodded, she had meals with us before, more so when we were completely crowded with people in the pace, and as for Elizabeth.

  “Oh! T-there’s no way I could ever be important enough to have a meal at the town lord pace, I-”

  “It’s ok Elizabeth, you’re an employee now right? All the maids, butlers, knights, and even us have meals in the pace, don’t feel out of pce”

  “W-well, if you insist...”

  “It’s decided then, let’s go!”

  And so we all headed to the dining hall, only to find something we have never seen in our lives before, something that literally left us all speechless when we saw it.

  Celestial was seated and eating an almost comical amount of food, so fast we can barely see the movements of her hands...

  “C-Celestial, you woke up?”

  “Hmm?”

  She swallowed what she was, umm, can it be considered eating, what she was swallowing whole.

  “Yeah, sorry for the inconvenience, but I’m fine now”

  “Celestial, I didn’t know you could eat food!”

  “Oh yeah, I usually recover myself with magic and by absorbing sunlight and turning it into mana, but I’m at such a deficit that eating would be faster”

  ...But you almost never went outside to get sunlight...

  I’m not even gonna question her, if she’s hungry then she’s more than welcome to eat, why would I-

  “If it’s too much food I’m eating I’ll stop, sorry”

  “No! It’s fine, it just caught us off guard, since you never eat anything”

  “Or sleep either! We just thought you didn’t need them...”

  “...what do you girls think I am?”

  “The celestial dragon of legends”

  “I wish I was as grandiose as the stories, I still have a long way to go it seems”

  ...

  ...

  In the end, we couldn’t exactly argue much with Celestial about her self doubt, I’m sure it's a sentiment we are all sharing, which prompted me to give her my proposition, better now than never I guess.

  “Celestial...”

  “What is it, Miss knight?”

  “I-I know this might be a little shameless but, the truth is that I want to get stronger! So I ask humbly, could you train me so I can become stronger?”

  I mentioned bowing my head to her. It's not something a knight would usually do, more so a captain, but right now I’m no such thing, I have gotten rid of my pride after meeting Marisa, all I want is to be able to do the right thing!

  “M-Me too! If possible!”

  Rushka bowed next to me as well, and before I could open my mouth to say anything, Celestial responded nonchantly.

  “Sure, I feel like it’s only right, I was gonna try to become stronger as well, let us work together”

  “P-please I’ll do anythi- wait, you said yes!?”

  “Yes, why would I refuse?”

  “I, umm...”

  I guess she always seemed kind of unapproachable, there’s... something different about Celestial, and while I can’t quite put my finger on it, she seems less cold compared to how she usually acted.

  “I’m gonna be blunt since Marisa trusts you all, if Maldi lives, conflict is bound to arise. And in that case, we need every ounce of strength possible if we want to see peace in the world. Something that Hestia mentioned to me once, power comes not from prowess, but from an unbreakable spirit”

  “Celestial...”

  “If there’s a will, there’s a way, let us start finishing this meal”

  “Of course, I was pnning on inviting the other 2 women that were with us when Marisa bid farewell, is that ok?”

  “The living corpse and the angel? Everyone is welcomed, don’t worry about it”

  “Thanks Celestial!”

  ...

  ...

  With the promise and gathering the missing people, after the meal we shared together, we reunited in the pace garden, all 7 of us, to which Celestial instructed us that she wished to train in her own home, that would be Celestial’s mountain right?

  “We don’t mind, but why not here?”

  “I pn on flexing my power, and is risky to do so in the pace, I don’t want to destroy the pce”

  “W-what are you pnning to do Celestial?”

  Asked Rushka, concerned.

  “The best way to improve and measure where everyone stands would be a mock battle”

  “Y-you want us to fight you!?”

  “Yes, six versus one sounds fair right? I will battle all of you girls at the same time”

  “...Heather, there has to be a better way! I-”

  “I agree, mock battles are the best way to improve in combat”

  “Heather!”

  It’s the truth, no amount of sword swinging managed to improve my skills as much as sparring with my fellow knights, it’s the right approach, besides if we can’t surpass Celestial, what chance would we have against the demon lord of legends.

  “A fight is not an honorable spar, so feel free to bring anything needed to give yourself an upper edge, come at me with the intention of murdering me, understood!”

  “U-Umm... Do I really have to fight?”

  Elizabeth retorted, it’s true the prospect is scary, but no one backed down, well maybe Az but she’s the only one that’s not here out of her own volition.

  “Hmm... you’re the new accountant right? It’s not mandatory, feel free to back down”

  “Not so fast”

  Adele was the one that finally spoke a word, she’s always covered head to toe in that cloak, I wonder why.

  “It’s fine if you don’t want to fight, but we were entrusted to protect you regardless, so come with us please, you don’t need to participate, but keeping you around would bring ease of mind”

  “O-ok...”

  “Heather, you should bring your little sister as well”

  “Yeah, it would be safer for her, good call”

  “She shares Marisa’s power, she can join in the training if she wants”

  “I’m not letting Ellie fight, so don’t even mention it again”

  She doesn’t need to know of things like violence or fights, as long as I draw breath, I will protect Ellie even if it costs me my life!

  ...

  ...

  It took a moment, but we all traveled to the forest at the base of the mountain in a matter of seconds, Celestial simply stretched her arms upwards, and looked straight at all of us.

  “Whenever you’re ready, attack me with everything and don’t hold back”

  She say that. I still brought a wooden sword from the knight’s barracks. I wouldn’t feel comfortable using a real one against a friend, no matter how much Celestial outperforms us.

  “What is the pn of attack?”

  “Adele? I guess we just go no?”

  “It sounds like suicide, good thing is a mock battle or we would be in trouble, if you insist, then I guess I’ll go first”

  Adele stepped forward, staff on her hands, and after pointing it towards Celestial, a beam of light appeared shooting towards her, but it didn’t nd, she literally took a step to the side to avoid the attack.

  “I expected as much”

  Celestial’s head corked backwards and the pce where the bst nded was still glowing, that’s when I realized the energy is being held by a pair of skeletal hands coming out of the ground, moments ter they let go and the beam was shot at Celestial’s back, so fast I couldn’t even see it, but her torso simply glimmered in sunlight and a thick sort of icy crust formed around her.

  “Close, and-”

  The moment Celestial looked back to Adele, she already cut the distance between them, holding her staff up high, its shining as it looks like she’s about to hit Celestial, she in turn, simply swatted at her but her attack went straight through Adele’s body, it almost looked like she turned into mist there! Without a second thought, Adele swung, and the moment Celestial tried to jump back, the same skeletal hands quickly held her legs, avoiding her escape.

  “Very good!”

  “Tch!”

  Celestial stopped the spell with her arm, and in a second bsted Adele away with an explosion, I feel like the air turned cold, and I can see mist all around Celestial, Adele is fine, she managed to cover herself as bones appeared around her body to protect her.

  I will not let this opportunity be in vain, Adele created an opening, and Rushka was kind enough to bring and set up the prosthetic limbs, so I can run, and I can fight! Or so was my pn but the moment I tried to approach her, Lassie was just behind her, holding a knife to Celestial's throat. At what moment did she approach her? no one saw her moving!

  “Impressive, I couldn’t see you coming but I guess that’s a given, still this much is not enough, do you have the strength to damage my neck?”

  Lassie obviously didn’t respond, Celestial is as calm as ever, even in this situation.

  “Do it, I said without holding back”

  Lassie clearly hesitated for a second, but decided to try and slice Celestial’s neck, but it didn't matter how hard she tried, and even though she was using a real knife, she was unable to leave even a small cut on Celestial’s neck.

  “You need more physical strength dear”

  She then grabbed Lassie’s arm, and without hesitation sent her flying along the forest with a simple swing, that looks painful!

  “You’re next miss knight”

  “Well, here goes nothing!”

  I put both real and artificial hands around the hilt of my bde, and enter stance. When was the st time I used a formal sword stance? If I want to even stand a chance, I need to be aware of her movements and strike in an opening.

  “Impeccable swordsmanship, I know very little of it but I can tell you hone those skills for years”

  “Thanks for the compliment!”

  I used my prosthetic leg to give me a good impulse forward and dash towards her, preparing a horizontal ssh across her head, or that’s what I want her to believe, the moment she raised her hand to stop my bde, I aimed my cut even higher, just above her head, it’s simir to the move that cost me my leg but different this time, I hit her torso using my new leg, she didn’t manage to stop it, but it felt like kicking a wall!

  “Wha?”

  I flipped my bd, holding it closer to a knife, the moment I made contact with her body, I jump back, and tried slicing her on the jump back, obviously I didn’t actually cut her, is a wooden sword after all, but I clearly nded a second hit, the moment I nded, Celestial approached to try and attack me, it’s a simple punch just like how Marisa would attack, that old guild master was right, strong people simplify their attacks, so it was barely possible, but I managed to twist my torso to dodge.

  Now on closed quarters I sliced vertically and upwards, my bde stopped at her arm however, would it be a normal human and a real bde, I could’ve easily sliced her arm off!

  “Impressive!”

  Celestial picked my head with her hand and the st thing I remember was seeing the trees rushing past me at quite rapid speeds, next I know, I was on the floor with Az healing my wounds.

  “Ok, it was a good first approach”

  “Celestial? We couldn’t even touch you...”

  “That is fine, now we have things we can work on, Heather, your movements and skill are awe inspiring, I’d say you reached the limit of your abilities currently, you should train magical power next, not only would it help you with not needing a clunky furnace to run your limbs, physical enhancement with magic would be the next step for better fighting”

  “I-I see...”

  “Let me help you with that, I also need to improve my magic, right Celestial?”

  “Adele, your spells are fast and ridiculously efficient, indeed advancing further in a quick manner would be difficult, more practice is all that I can offer you, sorry”

  “I know Celestial, us two are on the same boat right?”

  “Yeah...”

  “What do you mean?”

  I asked Adele, since she’s also the only other strong person in our group, I didn’t know she was strong enough that she kept Celestial on her toes for a moment back then.

  “Mana is like a muscle, the more you use it the better you become, both Celestial and I have some degree of mastery with magic which means the only path forward is to hone it, that’s all”

  “I see, w-well, I’ll be in your care!”

  “I will chime in too, Lassie, I know you can’t speak but your ability to disappear is one of a kind, we can teach you magic as well but I feel you would be better off with regur strength and fighting training, is that ok?”

  She simply nodded.

  “I... I wasn’t built for fighting, sorry for not helping...”

  “Don’t sell yourself short Rushka, the machinery you gave Heather is amazing, maybe you should research for better tools and weapons”

  “Celestial, yeah... I’m always bad at creating weapons to be honest, but I will do my best!”

  “Maybe ol’ Glenn notes can help you? I’m pretty sure they must be somewhere in the sacred forest”

  “The sacred forest and manuscripts from one of the twelve heroes of old! I want to see it as well!”

  ...it’s the first time I see Adele so excited about something...

  “No one can enter the sacred forest without permission unfortunately, it’s where the elves live and the only time I’ve been there was when I was a child, and I’m pretty sure the only reason why I was allowed was that I’m dwarven royalty...”

  “Bummer, maybe Celestial can vouch for us?”

  “I’ll try it ter, diplomacy was never my strong suit”

  “I... I want to help as well but, I’m also pretty useless in a fight...”

  “You’re a healer, and a good one at that, it should be enough support in a fight Azaquiel”

  “...you girls are all amazing...”

  “Elizabeth? What do you mean?”

  “Y-you’re up against a literal legend and instead of panicking or trying to flee, you try to improve yourselves, I... I would never be able to do something like that...”

  “You don’t have to Elizabeth, it’s a dangerous situation to put yourself into”

  “But you girls are helping me so much already I... I want to pay it back!”

  “You already did this morning, we wouldn’t be here training were it not for you!”

  “Now if you want to make some wine cakes, I wouldn’t oppose...”

  “Rushka!”

  I look around and realize just how tight this little group of ours have become. I guess worrying about who Marisa interacts with was pointless, let us train here and go back once the sun has setted!

  Joanne_carper